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The Good, The Bad, and The Irish

Posted on March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 By Tom 1 Comment on The Good, The Bad, and The Irish
Music, Rants, Washington Sabbatical
Clonmacnoise Abby and Ruins-006
Clonmacnoise Abby and Ruins, 2015

In my single, young adult life St. Patrick’s Day was the biggest excuse for a party of the year. I’d dust off the green and tweed and trot out the Irish ancestry (William Taylor, the ship Earl of Donegal, County Antrim, etc., etc., etc.), and purchase large quantities of the chosen poison for the evening, whether Jamison, Guinness, Bailey’s, or some green concoction. It didn’t help that my usual partner in crime back then, Bob Donnan, celebrated his birthday on March 17. I remember a couple of particularly epic parties (barely.) It was also about the only time I’d listen to Celtic music.

Fast forward a few decades and my St. Patrick parties are much less epic, if they occur at all. Since this year’s celebration was on a Saturday, there was the potential for more epicness. While the actual date was celebrated quietly, it was a weekend full of Irish music, including the good, bad, and ugly.

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Active, Dormant, or Extinct? Confusion and Clarification

Posted on March 14, 2018 By Tom No Comments on Active, Dormant, or Extinct? Confusion and Clarification
Science
Mount Baker over Bear Creek
Mount Baker over Bear Creek

In the last post I took Island Adventures naturalist Tyson Reed to task for his characterization of Mount Baker as an “active” volcano. I was a bit too hasty. My friend Tommy Thompson alerted me to the fact that these definitions are evolving, and there’s still a bit of some confusion about what they really mean.

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Spur of the Moment Whale Watching

Posted on March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 By Tom 1 Comment on Spur of the Moment Whale Watching
Photography, Washington Sabbatical

Quintessential Washington

We are finally getting some spring-like weather here in the PNW. With sunshine and warmer temperatures we’ve been wanting to get out and about a bit more. I had gotten an e-mail with a discount coupon for whale watching out of Anacortes. We had taken a tour with the company several years ago, and decided that we would take advantage of the coupon and head out with Island Adventures once again.

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Ukuleles, Tin Whistles, and other Musical Things

Posted on March 12, 2018 By Tom No Comments on Ukuleles, Tin Whistles, and other Musical Things
Music, Washington Sabbatical

Cordoba Ukulele

I thought this sabbatical year would be all about kayaking. It turns out that it’s more about music, with multiple events each week. This week was no different, with an Irish music session on Wednesday and some surprises through the week. Here’s a rundown…

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Irish Music at Village Pizza

Posted on March 12, 2018 By Tom No Comments on Irish Music at Village Pizza
Music, Washington Sabbatical

Irish Music at Village Pizza

I had a very different post planned. I’ve actually got a draft entitled “I Hate Irish Music.” I was going to vent some of my frustrations with the music sessions I’ve attended up here, specifically the Irish sessions. However, I decided to give the genre one more shot, so I decided to try a different session at Village Pizza in Anacortes. My mood did a 180. This felt like the closest thing to the pubs I enjoyed so much while in Ireland.

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PNW Southern Connections – Part 2, Tar Heel Land

Posted on March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 By Tom 4 Comments on PNW Southern Connections – Part 2, Tar Heel Land
History and Genealogy, Washington Sabbatical

Jump Off Rock-003

There used to be a BBQ place near my office in Duncan, South Carolina that we would frequent for lunch. There were lots of exposed timbers and it had a logging/lumberjack theme. Old photographs hung on the walls of men with saws felling giant trees. On close inspection, I could see that all of these were labeled “Skagit Valley Lumber.” It caught me off guard…but it really shouldn’t have. There has long been a connection between Appalachia and the river valleys of Washington, much of it based on the timber industry.

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A Visit to the Museum of Pop Culture

Posted on March 2, 2018 By Tom 1 Comment on A Visit to the Museum of Pop Culture
Washington Sabbatical

Museum of Pop Culture

Laura’s Mini was up for routine maintenance. One of the problems we discovered when we moved up here was that the nearest Mini Cooper dealership was all the way down in Seattle. Regardless, we made a morning appointment for Tuesday of this week. Since we were already down in the Seattle area, we began looking for other things to do in town. We settled on the Museum of Pop Culture.

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The Great Edison Chicken Parade

Posted on February 26, 2018February 26, 2018 By Tom No Comments on The Great Edison Chicken Parade
Washington Sabbatical, Weirdness
Great Chicken Parade
Photo from the Edison Bird Festival Facebook Page

Duff, Linda, and their daughter Kayla were over at the house one evening this past week and mentioned that the Great Chicken Parade would be taking place in Edison on Sunday. We knew that we just had to go.

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PNW Southern Connections – Part 1, The Lost Cause

Posted on February 22, 2018 By Tom 5 Comments on PNW Southern Connections – Part 1, The Lost Cause
History and Genealogy, Washington Sabbatical

Skagit Valley Foggy Sunrise-004

The “small world syndrome” always catches me off-guard. At the Bellingham Folk Festival I met musicians that live in Asheville and frequently play in Greenville. Even just meeting someone who has visited South Carolina, much less my home town, makes me feel a connection. As I’ve found out, though, the Southern connections with the Pacific Northwest are even deeper than I had thought.

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Random Skagit – Volume 4

Posted on February 21, 2018 By Tom No Comments on Random Skagit – Volume 4
Photography, Rambling, Washington Sabbatical

Cascade Ice-54

The past several days we have had the coldest weather for this winter. Snow has made its way down to the lower elevations, but for us it’s just been rain and wind. Even so, we were able to get out and about a bit. Here are some of the photos that just didn’t make it into other blog posts.

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